As I mentioned in another thread in the Math and Physics forum re: Atkins Diet ...
We live in a society where if a little is good, a lot must be GREAT. If an extreme amount is bad, then even a little bit must be bad. "Bacteria = germs. Germs are bad. We need antibacterial everything!" (Despite the fact that there are good bacteria that live on and within us that are quite beneficial.)
"Vitamin A is good for vision. I have bad vision. I'll take LOTS of vitamin A." (Only to end up being poisend by the stuff later on.)
I think people are just too damned lazy to think for themselves and want to be told exactly what to eat, how to live, what medicines to take, etc. They don't want to read nutrition labels. They don't want to research and study and listen to their bodies. They hear that some people are having "success" on a low carb diet, so they decide to make sure everything they eat has no carbs. They will buy and eat anything that says "Low carb" on the label, many of them having no clue what a "carb" even is. Hence, the 48grams of fat Hardee's Thick Burger claiming to be "low carb, and therefore good for you."
Same was true in the 90s when everything was "Low Fat." We hear "fat is bad" so we eat low fat. I happened to be in the grocery the other day and was looking to buy some peanut butter. They had "Reduced Fat" and regular. The reduced fat had 190 calories per serving. The regular had, guess what, 190 calories per serving! They just added more sugar to make up for the missing fat and the calories are the same.
So, in general, I still say, "Eat less, exercise more."